Luna Bliss

That would be an interesting discussion -- the difference between obsession and addiction.

I never said it was the thing's fault. Although we could talk about what types of things in life tend to be more addictive or have more addictive potential.

I agree that many are less willing to support someone in a virtual endeavor, and that they tend to apply stereotypes (especially a judgement of 'addiction') more readily to computer-related activities. But, those realities do not rule out the fact that some individuals do use virtual worlds in a destructive way.

you have understand those are unhealthy life choices they are not related to powering your PC and playing a game or doing some thing in the virtual world regardless of what it i , people do that even when they study for exams which means its not an argument against the topic It's only a problem if you spend so much time on any endeavor that you don't make appropriate time for such activities like cooking, exercising, or taking care of your kids.

why should they anyways ? not every aspect of life should be faced , some are not even worthy of the waste of time True, not every aspect of life needs to be faced, but I'm referring here to other parts of life that one should be facing in order to be healthy. For example, your health can go downhill if you don't make time for exercising. Or what if you eat junk food all the time because you don't want to spend the time to cook. Or what if you don't spend the time on your kids and they grow up feeling neglected.

But, to complicate things, you can pursue something in an addictive manner because you don't want to face other parts of life that are difficult, things you really should be dealing with, yet still achieve a worthwhile goal while being addicted to something. lol

Yes it's a choice one makes in order to achieve a goal that's worthwhile to them, so I wouldn't call that addictive even if other worthwhile activities have to take a back seat for awhile.

Addiction means someone is pursuing something pathological -- the pursuit is not good for them as it's diminishing the quality of their life. This can happen via the addiction taking away time that should be spent on other activities in order to have a more healthy, balanced life. It can be really hard to know when one is doing this! And yes, many tend to judge others as doing something addictive when they don't understand the activity or like what the so-called addicted person is doing.

Would you have preferred that your father told you to be quiet awhile, or that he simply wanted to think his own thoughts at that time? (vs tuning you out)

Honestly, I was not saying you were a blabbermouth. Like I said, I'd have to know what you said at the lake in order to determine that, and even then I can't say I'd always be the absolute judge of that because a blabbermouth to one person might be a stimulating conversationalist to another. My definition of a blabbermouth is someone who feels compelled to say every single trite thing in their mind (even when not particularly interesting or even necessary). It seems most people who don't have pauses between the thoughts they feel compelled to express are not usually expressing anything very meaningful or with much depth. Your mention of trapping people down by the lake and people warning others to not go with you reminded me of being trapped with blabbermouths when out shopping or in social gatherings, and so I riffed off of that. I'm kind of a quiet person myself, unless embarked in some silly hyperbolic play, and so blabbermouths are irritating mainly because they don't leave me with a thought to myself -- they take up ALL the space. My music method is a great way to deal with them.

When the nurse came in my hospital room and laid my newborn daughter in my arms I'd have to say that was the most magical moment EVER!

There are other reasons. I have a fixed landing point so that someone can easily get a shopping HUD there to more easily navigate my overgrown store. Plus, I have info on sales and new releases there. It's just an orientation spot. However my links on the MP do go to each individual item for sale so that a customer can easily find what they're looking for.

Not saying you're a blabbermouth, as I'd have to know exactly what you were saying and doing to ascertain that. But I've got magic to deal with cases when I'm trapped with a blabbermouth. I learned in meditation how to block off any unappealing stimuli and replace it with lovely music imagined in my mind. The blabbermouth looks at me and sees me enraptured as I listen to beautiful music and thinks I'm listening intently. It works.

Hey you're a great marketer...maybe LL should hire ya! /sarcasm

"A little bit of knowledge is a dangerous thing"...which is to say I don't think you know as much as you think you know. They are not "keeping people waiting" and the regions are not "already prepared" -- they are still working on them and we can see the progression on the map. Why would cancel your membership? After being given 1200 $L per month the membership only costs somewhat over a dollar. Why not pay that small amount to support a virtual world that you want to be a part of?

Definition 2b from Merriam (on the page you referenced) gives the definition of magic as "giving a feeling of enchantment". Enchantment is defined in 2b of same dictionary as "the quality or state of being enchanted". Enchanted is defined as "made to feel delightfully pleased or charmed". When someone says something is magic most likely they mean the above, and it has nothing to do with the supernatural, most especially when defining experiences in SL. I can imagine someone walking in the moonlight with you, enamored by the beauty of it all, and exclaiming "it is surely a magical night"...and then you chirp from the background "I don't believe in magic". Mood killer...lol.

How do I feel on this magical night Transcendence ascending, a liminal flight A stirring of love propels me to see Yet happy to rest in tranquility.

Albeit the comment by Arin is very brief ("It's Magic makes us stay here"), but I don't see any evidence of her participation in the supernatural within SL. Instead, I believe she is speaking to a state of consciousness -- a magical state of consciousness she is experiencing which makes SL appealing for her. What causes someone to feel this magical state of consciousness is different for each person, but I think at its base for everyone is a sense of love, mystery, and wonder. It's where all creativity springs from. So why are you going on about not believing in magic, or why did you feel compelled to tell Arin you don't believe in it? Rather, how could you miss what Arin was really meaning? Mind-ruts are a type of addiction, and when one misses the obvious I tend to think a mind-rut is in play.

So you are saying that if SL didn't feel magical you would leave? That's true for me. It seems with just about anything if I think I understand it all with my rational mind then I'm bored and want to leave.

People who don't believe in magic could very well be addicted to their rational mind. But we'd need to clearly define just what 'magic' means to determine this.

What are those strange red squares I saw over the SSP work area today?

Pixels, I don't want anything custom made for me. I rather like the idea of trying to snag a home in the foothills if that's part of the next phase along with all the new houseboats. It's fine by me to have let go of my home in a flat area and be homeless awhile as I wait. Perhaps in the future a REAL mountain cabin will become available that sits up in the mountains vs the traditional home against the foothills, and it will be fun changing my foothills home to this real cabin up in the mountains. Who knows what else might be coming in the next phases manifesting in months to come -- I might want to change homes yet again. Would I become homeless in the process?? How exciting...perhaps I'll be one of the Bums Of Belliserria for awhile...then I better get up early and be pushing those buttons during the next rollout. What you keep proposing, with this lottery thing, would require too much work -- LL does not have unlimited resources. I don't think you understand just how complicated and time-consuming the ideas you are proposing would be. I'd rather see the resources go to rolling out these new Linden homes in phases.

I will be up early...looking for the telltale dots on the map...

You should! I have a new sky sim named Desert Fantasy (well I would if I'd just get the final steps done! Damm those big prim intersecting other avatars problem making me have to break it into smaller linked sets.....now there's something to gripe at LL about!) ...full region....perfect for a desert kitty...